This mural was created in Blauwdorp, Maastricht; a neighborhood long shaped by powerful external influences.

As the old city walls disappeared and factories rose with their glass and porcelain, a new future entered. The Housing Act of 1907 opened the way to build beyond the old borders. Churches and homes with blue roofs appeared, and in 1917 new socialist houses with red roofs were added. Ideals stood face to face across the same streets. Pillarisation divided neighbors; people even threw stones or horse manure at each other. The church’s presence acted like an invisible wall, and later real walls returned as well. Demolitions in the 1980s, temporary housing, failed renovations, and eventually gentrification continued to reshape—and displace—local residents.

Across all these layers, one question remains: How do you reconnect places shaped by so many boundaries?

This artwork searches for that answer. By gathering the neighborhood’s stories it invites residents to recognize their shared strength. It turns history into connection, and connection into pride: a neighborhood that knows where it comes from, and stands tall together.